The carriage swayed gently. Hua Zhi propped her head on her hand and turned things over in her mind in a loose, unhurried way — and found that everything here was completely unlike what she had expected.
There was no sense of unease or panic following the arrest of the Regional Governor Yuan Shifang. On the contrary, Jinyang looked even more settled and prosperous than the capital, a portrait of a flourishing age — as the young man Zeng had said, outdoing the capital in all but the imperial palace itself. The locals had an extremely strong sense of belonging to Jinyang, and that kind of feeling was not built in a day. A place like this, if its ties to the Chaoli Clan ran too deep, would be no small threat to Daqing.
When someone who had always relied on brute force suddenly started using their head — and actually had a head worth using — that was genuinely alarming.
Back at the inn, Hua Zhi asked Jia Yang, “Can you get a copy of Jinyang’s prefectural gazetteer?”
“This subordinate will ask Qisu Department colleagues to retrieve one.” Jia Yang looked up at Miss and asked, “Shall we invite Administrator Lv to come and speak with us?”
“I don’t have the standing for that. Let’s not disturb anyone.”
Jia Yang paused, then took his leave.
Hua Zhi let out a soft laugh. Who was she, really? Having a prefectural assistant administrator come to see her — when all was said and done, she had come here only to see if she could help Yanxi in some way. The Chaoli Clan was a sword hanging over both their heads — only Yanxi’s motivations came from duty to the realm, while hers were entirely personal.
If she were not a Hua, if she did not have Yanxi behind her, she would be nothing more than a merchant of the lowest social standing. She had enough self-awareness for that — so why go and invite humiliation? Not everyone would treat her as Yanxi did, with respect.
By the time Xiao Liu returned, the sky had nearly darkened. He drank down half a cup of tea in one go, idly picked up one of several gazetteer volumes that had been set out, and flipped through it. “That horse track really is big — bigger than the capital’s.”
“Then Mister Zeng won. He must be very pleased.”
“Pleased enough to nearly fall off his horse and break his neck.” Xiao Liu let out an amused huff. He’d had his own pride, and couldn’t deny wanting to win — but the horse track really was vast, the horses genuinely impressive, and though he hadn’t wanted to admit it, it was simply fact.
“Tell me about the horse track.”
“Alright.” Knowing he would need to report back to Sister Hua, Xiao Liu had observed carefully. “The track is enormous. From the outside it looks unremarkable, but once you’re inside you realize this is more than just a place to keep horses — they’ve developed it in other directions. Racing, for one.”
He gathered his thoughts and continued: “I asked around a bit. These past few years, Jinyang has become very enthusiastic about horse-breeding and racing. Zeng Xianyan told me that races are held every ten days, three times a month, and that business disputes that can’t be resolved at the negotiating table are often settled over a single race. The current champion is the Zeng family’s ‘Cloud-Treader’ — he showed me. The horse is in superb condition, glossy and full of spirit. The scale of its care is extraordinary: over ten servants dedicated to this one horse, grass cut fresh for every feeding, mountain spring water to drink. Even most people don’t have it that well.”
Interesting. Hua Zhi smiled. Jinyang as a prefecture had found a distinct niche and was developing it quite successfully. The feeling was vaguely familiar — though for the moment she couldn’t quite place where that familiarity came from.
“Do the prominent families of Jinyang all keep horses?”
“From what Zeng Xianyan said, it seems so. By the time we got there it was already late in the day, and there were still elderly masters and young ones from several different households strolling about.”
Hua Zhi thought for a moment. “Did Zeng Xianyan say when Jinyang took up this practice?”
Xiao Liu tried to recall, then shook his head. “He only said it’s been these past few years.”
Jia Yang immediately spoke up. “This subordinate will have people look into it at once.”
“No hurry.” Hua Zhi stopped him, then asked, “What else did Zeng Xianyan say?”
“He spent what must have been half an hour doing nothing but enthusiastically praising his family’s Cloud-Treader.” Xiao Liu smiled — he didn’t actually dislike Zeng Xianyan. The man was boisterous but not without limits. “He talked mostly about the horse track and the horses. He especially had nothing but contempt for the Zhu family, whose horse has been competing for the top spot with Cloud-Treader. I did ask him where the horses came from, but he just said each family had their own sources and didn’t elaborate. Not wanting to arouse suspicion, I didn’t push further.”
“Did you happen to notice what breeds those horses were?”
Xiao Liu hesitated slightly, and his voice dropped a little. “I only know they weren’t Daqing horses. Daqing’s cavalry has never been strong — part of the reason lies with the horses themselves. Daqing horses are short, not very enduring, and their legs are shorter too. The horses I saw at the track today were all tall, powerful animals. They looked like horses from beyond the passes.”
Hua Zhi gave a small nod. From beyond the passes didn’t necessarily mean anything suspicious — people there had to eat too, and as long as the price was right, they’d be willing to sell.
“Oh — and Zeng Xianyan mentioned that the day after tomorrow is the regular ten-day race. If I’m not in a hurry to leave, he’d take me along to watch. I said I’d need to ask you first, and left the inn’s address with him.”
“The horse track doesn’t admit the general public?”
“No, you have to be taken in by someone from their circle.”
“If he comes to find you, tell him I’d also like to broaden my horizons, and ask if I might come along.”
Xiao Liu agreed readily. “Sister Hua suspects the horse track might be connected to the problem?”
“I can’t quite put it into words — just a feeling something’s off, but I can’t say exactly what.”
Hua Zhi looked up. “Jia Yang, has the Qisu Department looked into the horse track?”
“Yes, they have.”
“Bring me whatever they found. And have them look into when Jinyang took up horse-breeding — when exactly this began, what prompted it, and who was involved.”
“Yes.”
That same evening Jia Yang brought up the dossiers on the Zeng family and the horse track.
The Zeng family was a local prominent clan. Zeng Xianyan was the youngest son, born late in his father’s life — Old Master Zeng naturally doted on him enormously. And since the Zeng family tradition held that the eldest son inherited the family business, Zeng Xianyan had nothing to contend for on that front regardless of how cherished he was. His elder brothers treated him very well. He had no taste for women or aimless dissipation — his only vice was drink. No one could refuse him that, and so he was often seen wandering the city in a happy haze. What they’d seen of him today was actually him fairly sober.
A man like this was hard to dislike. Someone who drank but didn’t make trouble at it revealed a great deal of character — and it was clear that while the Zeng family had spoiled him, they had not neglected to teach him properly.
Hua Zhi looked at the second dossier. “The horse track was established by the four major families of Jinyang, with several other families contributing?”
“Yes. To be more precise, it was built three years ago. Twelve families were involved altogether. The Qisu Department investigated all twelve — two were deemed suspicious, but no evidence could be found against either. They are still being monitored.”
“Was there a specific trigger for building the track?”
“The Qisu Department is still looking into it. No answer yet. What has been established is that the horse-racing enthusiasm in Jinyang began approximately four years ago.” Jia Yang glanced up at Miss and continued: “The Qisu Department was also looking into the source of the horses, but hadn’t been pursuing that angle before. Please allow some time.”
Hua Zhi nodded. With so much time having passed, even if something was wrong, the evidence would have been carefully covered over by now. Finding nothing was to be expected.